Breaking the Power to Sin
This website has presented the fact, that there is plenty of biblical evidence to show, that it is your belief through faith which saves you and not your performance. ( just to list a few....)
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John 3 (v. 36) He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
John 5 (v. 24) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes In Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
Rom 4 (v. 5) But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
And while knowing this fact is certainly good news, the God of heaven doesn’t just leave us there; and if you are willing, He wants to take you further to become witnesses for the power of God to work in the lives of believers.
Listen to how one author, describes this process of overcoming in the power of the Holy Spirit:
The grand secret to living the christian life is learning how to live within the very shadow of Jesus....If I put the troubles out of my mind and surrendered them to God and said, “Here it is, God. You handle it. It is just too big for
me to take care of,” then I could focus upon my real work.[1]
Psm 91 (v. 1) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
(v. 2) I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
Can I, by faith, entrust this whole ugly situation into His hand, and not fret about it, and simply trust God to take care of me?....This became my battle, not to fight....but to remain subdued and surrender to God, allowing Him to lead and direct me....[1]
Phil 1 (v. 6) ....that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
I didn’t handle that situation well, and God was taking me over the same ground again and again until my choice to do things God’s way was established as a habit. I found out that you can run but you can’t hide from the devil....Through hard experiences, God was teaching me to passively respond to the voice of my flesh; that is, to the voice of my emotions and feelings.[1]
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At the same time, He wanted me to become very willing to listen and obey, to be active toward the voice of God speaking to me. These trials never hit me when I was ready for them, such as during my worship time. They came when I least expected them to.[1]
You see, a christian should want more than to just be forgiven, if they really love Jesus, there should be a desire for the victory over sin, but not because it saves you.
Rev 7 (v. 13) Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” (v. 14) And I said to him....“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
A victory over sin, not so that they can make it to heaven, but so they can glorify their Savior and to vindicate His character.
Rev 14 (v. 1) Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. (v. 5) And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
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The christian needs to know Jesus as more than just a Savior, but also as our strength and power against the flesh.
So, how can we hope to overcome sin?
Countless believers struggle with sin in their lives. It seems no matter how hard they try, they cannot seem to easily break the power of sin in their lives. Many of us are told to discipline our flesh, which isn't bad advice, but if we are already trying our best and not getting anywhere.... keeping ourselves from sin seems like a chore for us! The truth is, doing what's right should not seem like a chore for us![2]
Luke 11 (v. 42) But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (v. 39) Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. (v. 40) Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
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Did you know that doing what's right because we feel we are obligated to is legalism? Did you know that is how the Pharisees operated? Jesus came along and did away with the Pharisees' legal pride when He brought the law of grace on the scene. Am I saying we aren't to try to do what's right? Absolutely not! All I am going to present is a better way to go about it....the law of the Spirit rather than the law of the letter.[2]
II Cor 3 (v. 6) Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
What does God want from us? He wants us to know and believe the love that He has for us!
I John 4 (v. 16) And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
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What happens when we come to know and believe God's love for us? It changes us from the inside out. Our human spirits will respond to His love, and it will become natural for His love to flow through us! As our love for Him grows, we will want to do what's right, not feel obligated to do it, or feel like it's a chore for us. We will be conformed to His image and become more like Him.[2]
Rom 8 (v. 29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son....
Our love for God needs to exceed our love for sin.
As we are conformed to His image, we will begin to hate sin, because He hates sin. When we realize the great love that God has for us, and yet find ourselves in sin, it will lay a great burden on our shoulders that will make us feel awful for what we've done. We will be quick to repent because we will feel awful for the things we've done that we were wrong.[2]
I John 3 (v. 5) And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. (v. 6) Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
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Every day, little by little, we are being transformed into the image of the master we decide to follow. The way we choose to respond to the trials and temptations that come each day determines our choice. But we must remember that Jesus is by far a stronger master; we can rely on Him for victory....It is only by the power of God’s Spirit that we can resist the devil.[3]
Zech 4 (v. 6) So he answered and said to me: This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Listen to how this person was able to get the victory, after failing many times, through the power of the Holy Spirit:
I was thoroughly exasperated with myself. I had just done it again!....Why, oh why, did I fail here now? I cried out to God....He directed my reasoning.... and
I discovered something. Every one of my victories was preceded by a decisive decision to do God’s will rather than my own. This choice was more than desiring the good God offered. It went beyond agreeing that His way is best. It led me to the point of cooperating in my actions to do His will, trusting in His power to change the perverted desires, habits, concepts, emotions and inclinations that clamor within me.[4]
I put my decision and action on God’s side of the question and endured the pull of the flesh for its short duration while God cleansed the wrong thought, desire, taste, or whatever. By the grace of God working effectually in my mind and heart I’d do His will not my own....A key element was trusting in His power to work inside, with my wrong thoughts, feelings, etc., bringing them into obedience with my consent.[4]
The battle was real in the interim between my choice to follow God and victory. But while my actions cooperated with my choice, in due season (often fifteen minutes or so) victory would come. Self-control and peace would reign. My desires, my thoughts, my emotions were all subdued by the indwelling Christ. The temptation was gone![4]
Heb 2 (v. 8) You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. [nkjv]
We can safely resist satan only by first giving our hearts to God and trusting completely in His word....The incredible deliverance of the demoniac highlights the two great blueprints for every person’s life. It is a vivid display of what God has planned for humanity and what the devil would do to God’s creatures.[5]
Jam 4 (v. 7) Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (v. 8) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you....
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It is faith that connects us with heaven, and brings us strength for coping with the powers of darkness. In Christ, God has provided means for subduing every sinful trait, and resisting every temptation, however strong....Let these souls, in their helpless unworthiness, cast themselves upon the mercy of their compassionate Saviour....Faith comes by the word of God.[6]
John 6 (v. 37) All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
We need to come to know and understand God's love for us if we are going to break free from the power of sin in our lives. As we grow in understanding of His great love for us, our human spirits will respond. They will begin to hate sin because of their love for God.[2]
We can start to understand God’s love for us by reviewing how he dealt with the demoniac, living in sin.
Have you ever been reluctant to goto Jesus because you felt you had so far to go?....do you become discouraged by the vastness of the gulf that separates you from Him? Like the shackled demoniac, you know that you are firmly bound by the chains of bad habits and sins....He [Jesus] traveled a long way to meet the lunatic....Jesus made a dangerous journey across the stormy sea to save a man completely captive to the enemy. He also crossed the ocean of space to save this one lost world.[7]
Steps_to_Overcoming_an_Addiction.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [154.5 KB]
Unfortunately, we sometimes create temptations for ourselves and get ahead of the Lord, creating situations and problems God never intended us to face. But if we are abiding in the Vine, we won't have to worry about these problems, since He will solve them through the abiding process in us. I'm not the one making decisions then, for the purging process works as I permit myself to be subjected to it. That purging process is the Bible cutting out habits from my life and cutting me away from the world. Then it becomes a matter of judging all temptations and activities that satan brings through the lens of God's Word, and not through my wisdom.[8]
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John 10 (v. 11) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Usually, when Jesus made a journey to heal someone, it was at the request of a parent or friend. But in this unique story of the demoniac, Jesus crossed the ocean as if commissioned only by His heavenly Father. He made the perilous journey to transform a madman....Christ’s trip underscores the incredible value that God places on a single soul, one whom most people, if honest with themselves, would have deemed worthless. Yet Jesus crossed the vast expanse of the universe to reach just you.[9]
John 15 (v. 13) Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
OUR LOVE FOR GOD NEEDS TO OUTWEIGH OUR LOVE FOR SIN!!!
How do we increase our love for God? By learning of His love for us! Spending time with Him allows us to get to know Him and build a relationship with Him that will help us understand and realize the great love that He has for us. As we learn of His love for us, our spirits will respond and our love for Him will grow.[2]
Now this all may seem quite impossible to think about, but are there really people in the bible who have achieved this status?
Heb 11 (v. 5) by faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, and was not found because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Gen 5 (v. 23) So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. (v. 24) And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Character Perfected by Enoch and Elijah. Some few in every generation from Adam resisted his every artifice and stood forth as noble representatives of what it was in the power of man to do and to be--Christ working with human efforts, helping man in overcoming the power of Satan. Enoch and Elijah are the correct representatives of what the race might be through faith in Jesus Christ if they chose to be.[10]
II Kings 2 (v. 1) and it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. (v. 11) Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Satan was greatly disturbed because these noble, holy men stood untainted amid the moral pollution surrounding them, perfected righteous characters, and were accounted worthy for translation to heaven. As they had stood forth in moral power in noble uprightness, overcoming Satan's temptations, he could not bring them under the dominion of death. He triumphed that he had power to overcome Moses with his temptations, and that he could mar his illustrious character and lead him to the sin of taking glory to himself before the people which belonged to God.[10]
One more element concerning the barriers to stop sinning.
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While this teaching has addressed handling the flesh, it is also possible to have a demonic spirit behind a person's almost un-winnable struggles against sin. If you try your best and apply these principals and are still struggling against it, then don't be surprised if there's an evil spirit behind your problem. In the Bible, when Saul came under demonic bondage, he became very angry and tried to kill David as he was doing nothing but playing the harp for him! I know of many cases where demonic spirits of (pornography, anger, jealousy, etc.) have been cast out of people. If you try to break free but just cannot move forward, then I would suspect a demonic bondage that needs to be addressed.[2]
If we continue to sin, it will allow satan a legal right to be involved in our lives and that will diminish our standard of living, and deprive us of the glorious christian life.
The fact that the acknowledged people of God are represented as standing before the Lord in filthy garments should lead to humility and deep searching of heart on the part of all who profess His name. Those who are indeed purifying their souls by obeying the truth will have a most humble opinion of themselves. The more closely they view the spotless character of Christ, the stronger will be their desire to be conformed to His image, and the less will they see of purity or holiness in themselves.[11]
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But while we should realize our sinful condition, we are to rely upon Christ as our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. We cannot answer the charges of Satan against us. Christ alone can make an effectual plea in our behalf. He is able to silence the accuser with arguments founded not upon our merits, but on His own.[11]
Yet we should never be content with a sinful life. It is a thought that should arouse Christians to greater zeal and earnestness in overcoming evil, that every defect in character, every point in which they fail to meet the divine standard, is an open door by which Satan can enter to tempt and destroy them; and, furthermore, that every failure and defect on their part gives occasion to the tempter and his agents to reproach Christ.[11]
There is power in the Name of Jesus….To break every chain…. Video ref. [12]
So in the end, there will be two groups of christians that will goto heaven:
1) the 144,000 that are translated and never see death, who will completely allow Christ to reproduce his character in them, so as to refute the charge of satan and vindicate the Creator before the whole universe.
2) the much larger group, who will have enough faith to believe in Jesus as their redeemer and end up going into the grave with the full assurance of being saved.
On the next webpage, we will discover further, the main differences between these two groups of christians who the bible says will goto heaven.
References:
1. Jim Hohnberger. (Oct 2004). In Thy Shadow. “Power for Living” quarterly newsletter.
2. www.greatbiblestudy.com/sws_breaking_power_sin.php
3. Doug Batchelor, (2004). Broken Chains: Finding Peace for the Raging Soul, p.95. Pacific Press
4. Jim Hohnberger. (July 2005). Why Do We Fail? “Power for Living” quarterly newsletter.
5. Doug Batchelor, (2004). Broken Chains: Finding Peace for the Raging Soul, p.94. Pacific Press
6. E.G. White, The Desire of Ages, p.429, par.1
7. Doug Batchelor, (2004). Broken Chains: Finding Peace for the Raging Soul, p.115. Pacific Press
8. Dan Augsburger, (2009). The Branch and the Vine (sermons by Frank B. Phillips), p.42, Booklet.
9. Doug Batchelor, (2004). Broken Chains: Finding Peace for the Raging Soul, p.183. Pacific Press
10. E.G. White, Selected Messages (book 3), p.146, par.5
11. E.G. White, Testimonies for the Church (vol.5), p.471-472, par.1
12. Jesus Culture (Lyrics) “Break Every Chain” Online video. YouTube, 22 Apr 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtyVdC7E6Wo
Image #1: ExploreGod.com, (n.d.). Do you walk by faith and not by sight? Retrieved from http://intattoo.tk/walk-by-faith-meaning/
Image #2: Joshua Kennedy, (2018). Blood bath: They have washed their robes. Retrieved from https://www.joshua1-8.net/blog
Image #3: Creative Commons License, (n.d.). Profess Jesus as your savior. Retrieved from https://www.wikihow.com/Accept-Christ-As-Your-Savior
Image #4: Author Unknown, (n.d.). The apostle Paul speaks about the Law. Retrieved from https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ROqAk7rQc8fzusxJw6FAKPyyKLdfyLMc8-rdVFEvJXEYZUz6mPJ3-iQR2PHo-HzWFJTEhw=s170
Image #5: Author Unknown, (n.d.). Believing God loves you. Retrieved from https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_HlTUu6rprC5HWz70fylQ8v5kN4ThbVG-4MpV41oDGzaQnMvVfkI_QTdZVgBIqSOqOQt=s114
Image #6: Author Unknown, (n.d.). Bring our thoughts and feelings into harmony with God. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398216792027265260/
Image #7: Prayers and Promises, (2016). Break every chain. Retrieved from https://dianarasmussen.com/2016/11/14/break-every-chain-word-from-the-lord/
Image #8: Maria Victoria Heredia Reyes, (n.d.). Self worth comes from God. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/506514289327235847/
Image #9: Random Scribblings, (2012). The decision of doing good or evil is within us. Retrieved from http://jyotimi.blogspot.com/2012/05/good-and-evil.html
Image #10: In Him Ministries, (2015). The devil won't bother you while you are living in sin, he will bother you when you are trying to get out. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/IHMinistries/photos/a.470004569708987.105550.469824229727021/993644714011634/
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